Race Report: 2019 Texas Marathon

On January 1st, I ran the Texas Marathon in Kingwood.  This race is always held on New Year’s Day.  I originally scheduled only one marathon in December and one in January.  Then I noticed they were six weeks apart.  I didn’t want to go that many weeks without a long training run.  I also didn’t want to run that far on a treadmill, and I couldn’t count on having good road conditions in Minnesota in January.  I’d much rather run a marathon, even if it means traveling.

Kingwood is just outside Houston.  I flew to Houston on Monday and stayed at the Hampton Inn in Humble.  After checking in, I continued to Kingwood to pick up my race packet.  I could have waited until Tuesday morning, but I didn’t want to deal with picking it up in the morning.

In addition to a T-shirt and a hat, we each received a nice duffle bag.

The race directors are Steve and Paula Boone, who were two of the founders of the 50 States Marathon Club.  Because of that, this race is always like a de facto 50 states club reunion. Without knowing who was going to be there, I knew I would see lots of friends.

I had dinner with my friend Jane, who was visiting from Australia.  We met seven years ago at the Tahoe Triple.  It was nice to catch up.

I went to bed early, but couldn’t get to sleep.  There have been numerous occasions when I couldn’t sleep, because of pre-race anxiety.  This was different.  My mind was calm, but every time I was close to falling asleep, I had to get up to go to the bathroom.  I don’t know where all that liquid was coming from.  After a few hours, I started to get hot.  That sometimes happens during the night, if I eat a large dinner.

One time, after a trip to the bathroom, I glanced at the clock, climbed back into bed, and actually fell asleep.  When I woke up, I looked at the clock again.  It was only 10 minutes later.  That was the only sleep I got that night.

About 10 minutes before my alarm clock was set to go off, I got up and started getting ready.  I was downstairs when Hampton Inn started their breakfast service, so I had time to have a cup of tea and a pastry.  While I was in the breakfast area, I bumped into my friends Teal and Carol.

I carpooled with Jane, and we got to the race in time to find street parking about a block from where the race starts and finishes.  When we got out of the car, we started bumping into all kinds of people we knew.

Fifteen minutes before the race started, they had a pre-race ceremony.  This was the 20th Texas Marathon, and they introduced runners who have done five, ten, fifteen, or in one case, all 20 Texas Marathons.  They also introduced four runners who were running their 100th marathon at this race.  The surprise of the ceremony was a marriage proposal.  (She said, “Yes.”)  Then we all sang the national anthem together.

A sign where you enter Kingwood refers to the city as the “living forest.”  The entire city feels like a park.  They have a network of sidewalks through the woods, called the Kingwood Greenbelt.

The course is an out-and-back on the Kingwood Greenbelt.  We did the same out-and-back four times.  After the field gets spread out, there are runners going in both directions, so it can get congested in spots.  There was a half marathon that did two loops of the course, but they didn’t start until 15 minutes after the marathon.

The temperature at the start was about 45 degrees.  When I was driving to the race, it was foggy, but the fog lifted by the time we started running.  The temperature was forecast to climb to 55 by noon, but I still dressed fairly warm.  I often wear tights in conditions where other people wear shorts.  Today was no different.  I wore my cheetah tights and hat, at the risk of getting warm later.  I also started the race with gloves.

Even though I was dressed that warmly, my arms felt chilly as I started running.  Perhaps because of that, I started a little bit fast.  My first mile was 8:47.  After that, I eased back to about nine minutes per mile.

About two and a half miles into the first lap, I encountered a series of three or four deep puddles.  There was no easy way to get around them, so I had to get my shoes wet.  As the race progressed, the water got increasing muddy.  I was wearing my oldest pair of running shoes.  I was planning to retire them after my next race, but I may retire them after this one instead.

I took just under an hour to finish my first lap.  I was on pace to break four hours, but I knew the pace was unsustainable.  After just six and a half miles, I was already beginning to feel tired.

Usually, after not sleeping well, I can shake it off.  I usually feel fine once I start running.  Today wasn’t one of those days.  I felt lethargic.  As I started my second lap, I made no effort to maintain the same pace.  I stopped checking my time at the mile markers.

One of the nice things about doing multiple out-and-backs is that you get to see all the other runners.  I saw everyone I know, whether they were fast or slow.

Late in my second lap, I tripped and fell.  There aren’t any rocks or roots on this course.  It wasn’t even a seam in the sidewalk.  I scuffed my shoe on a rough patch of concrete, and I went tumbling.  I couldn’t avoid hitting the concrete, but then I rolled onto the grass.  I didn’t seem to be injured, but the impact knocked the wind out of me.  I needed a minute to catch my breath.  Then I slowly got up.  I walked for a few steps before I resumed running.  I don’t think I ever got back to my previous pace.

As I resumed running, my vision was cloudy in one eye.  After about a minute, it cleared up.  It’s possible one of the lenses of my sunglasses fogged up when I stopped, but cleared up after I started moving again.

My right elbow was bleeding, but it didn’t hurt.  I just had superficial scrapes.  My hands were spared from any scrapes by the gloves I was wearing.  By now, it was warm enough that I no longer needed them, but I never got around to taking them off.  My right leg was spared from “road rash” by the tights I was wearing.  I had to wait until after the race to see if the tights were still OK.

By the end of my second lap, I was no longer on pace to break four hours.  That was no surprise.  If I was feeling better, I might have fought for a four hour finish.  Instead, I reminded myself that I scheduled this race as a long training run.  At this point, I just wanted to finish, regardless of pace.

I began to play leapfrog with Bob Kennedy.  Bob’s new goal is to finish first in his age group in every state.  Today, he was able to cross Texas off his list.

For several miles, I knew I would eventually need a bathroom stop, but I wanted to wait as long as possible.  I was worried that if I stopped for a few minutes, my legs might get stiff.  I finally realized I couldn’t wait much longer.

Although the course was mostly out-and-back, there was a loop near the far end of the course.  There was an aid station that we passed at the beginning and end of that loop.  As I finished the loop and got back to the aid station, I finally made a bathroom stop.

When I emerged from the port-o-potty, my legs were a little bit stiff.  I walked through the aid station while I drank some Powerade.  As I walked, I started to notice some blisters inside my waterlogged shoes.  As I left the aid station, I also started to notice some soreness on my right side, where I took the impact of that fall.  I had just under nine miles to go.  They weren’t going to be fast, and they weren’t going to be easy.  On the bright side, I started to notice a cool breeze, which kept me from getting too hot.

My third lap was much slower than the first two.  As I headed back out, I was encouraged to know that I was on my last lap.  I still had six and a half miles to go, but I started to pick up the pace.

When I got through the puddles for the last time, I was happy to know that I was done with that particular obstacle.

The loop part of the course took us around a small lake.  We only ran this section in one direction, but it was the most memorable part of the course.  I had a good feel for where I was as I followed the contour of the lake.

Although this was a multiple loop course, there were mile markers for all 26 miles.  In my last lap, I was paying attention to the mile markers from every lap.  At the 24 sign, I had 2.2 miles to go.  At the 13 sign (from lap 2), I had 2.1 miles to go.  At the 18 sign (from lap 3), I had 1.65 miles to go.  At the 5 sign (from lap 1), I had 1.55 miles to go.  Then I repeated the pattern.  This really helped break up the last few miles.

Now I was racing again.  I passed several runners, but I didn’t know which ones were on the same lap as me.  I accelerated in the last mile.

I finished in 4:13:29.  My fourth lap was about the same pace as my second lap.  When I left the finish chute, I received my finisher medal.

They say everything is bigger in Texas.  That’s certainly true when it comes to the finisher medals.  They’re ridiculously large.  They’re more than six inches wide.  These medals, which are a signature for this race, are generously provided by Sawblade.com.

In addition to the medal, each runner gets a squeezie toy.  Every year, there’s a different theme.  This year we got squeezie cowboy cows.  Each one is numbered according to how you placed in the race.  I placed 35th, but got cow #36, because another runner passed me in the chute while I was asking the timekeeper a question.

The post-race food included pizza, cookies, and coke.  Steve and Paula want to make sure there’s plenty of food for the runners at the back of the pack, so they keep having pizzas delivered throughout the day.  Every runner gets warm pizza.

After waiting in the finish area long enough to see a few of my friends finish, I drove back to the hotel.  My first order of business was to inspect my tights as I got undressed.  There’s a small hole in the right knee.  That probably saved me from skinning my knee.

I took a hot bath to soak my legs, and I dabbed my right elbow with a damp washcloth to remove the dried blood.  It looked bad, but it didn’t hurt.  What did hurt was the right side of my chest.  It felt like a bruise, but there wasn’t any discoloration.  It seems like the pain was in my rib cage.  It doesn’t hurt as much as the broken rib I had two years ago, but the pain is in the same place, and I’m noticing it more and more.

I already have a physical scheduled for later in the week.  That’ll give me a chance to follow up with my doctor.

Race Statistics

Distance:  26.2 miles

Time:  4:13:29

Average Pace:  9:40

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  364

Race Report: 2016 Across the Years 24-Hour Run

On December 29, I ran the Across the Years 24-Hour Run.  Across the Year has fixed time races ranging from 24 hours to 6 days.  Twice, I’ve done the 48-hour race, but both times I was hampered by injuries and retired from the field early.  This year, I did the 24-hour as a long training run to help prepare me for the Rocky Raccoon 100 in February.

I never had ambitious goals for this race.  When I entered, I assumed if I felt great and all went well, I might do 100 miles.  If not, I’d do whatever I could.  That’s the nice thing about a fixed time race.  You’re not locked into any set distance, so you can wait and see how you feel.

Three weeks before the race, I fell and broke a rib.  Healing time for a broken rib is generally about six weeks, so I knew I wouldn’t be fully recovered.  My doctor gave me the green light to go ahead and do this race, as long as I didn’t fall again.  That’s not much a danger in this race.  The course is a nice flat loop with no trip hazards.  He also told me I’d have to adjust my goals.  He knew that discomfort from the rib would probably force me to hold back.

The race is held at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, AZ, which is just west of Phoenix.  It’s a baseball facility used by the Chicago White Sox and LA Dodgers for spring training.  The course was a 1.05 mile loop that goes around several of the baseball diamonds.  The surface is mostly dirt, but a small portion of it is paved.

I flew to Phoenix on Wednesday and stayed at a hotel in Avondale.  I kept a room there for three nights, even though I wasn’t planning to be there Thursday night.  If things didn’t go well, I wanted to have the option of coming back during the night, knowing I would have a room.

My race started at 9:00 Thursday morning, but some runners started on Wednesday.  That’s when the 6 day race started, and runners doing 24, 48 or 72 hours also had the option of starting as early as Wednesday.   After checking in at my hotel, I drove over to Camelback Ranch to say hello to friends who were already on the course.

Pre-race check-in started at 7:00 AM.  When I entered, I paid extra to rent a tent.  Some runners use tents to take short naps during the race.  I used mine as a place to store my gear and, if necessary, change clothes during the race.  Daytime and nighttime temperatures often differ sharply, so you generally need to make adjustments in your clothing.  The race volunteers set up the tents in a large field next to the course.  I arrived early, so I would have plenty of time to find a tent that wasn’t in use yet, and transfer my gear from the car.  During the race, I had everything nearby.

Weather for the race was the warmest I’ve seen.  It’s usually nice during the day, but can get down below freezing during the night.  This year the overnight low on Wednesday was in the mid-50s, the high on Thursday was in the mid-70s, and the overnight low on Thursday was in the upper 50s.

The running surface is usually dry and dusty.  The first time I did this race, I had serious issues with dust getting into my shoes.  When I returned a year later, I wore gaiters.  That helped a lot.  This year, they watered down the course daily, so it wouldn’t be as dusty.  I wore gaiters again this year, but that makes it more difficult to add or remove a layer on my legs.  Once the race started, I wanted to avoid taking off my shoes for the whole race, if possible.

It was warm enough at the start that I could get by with shorts.  I was planning to spend as much time walking as running, so I needed to dress warmer than I would for continuous running.  I started the race with a light jacket that I could easily shed once it warmed up.

I started the race with a minimum goal of 50 miles.  Beyond that, I didn’t have any other specific mileage goals, so I didn’t really have a pacing strategy.  I ran the first two laps at a relaxed pace.  By then, I was warmed up enough that I could start taking walking breaks without my legs getting cold.  From the third lap on, I walked the beginning of each lap, and then ran the rest.

After three laps, I was warm enough to take my gloves off.  After another lap, I took off my jacket and put it in my tent.  For the rest of the day, I was fine with shorts and a T-shirt.

During the morning hours, I varied the length of my walking breaks so I was doing 12 minute laps.

There’s an aid station that I passed every lap.  They had a variety of food and beverages.  My nutrition strategy was fairly laid back.  I drank when I was thirsty and ate when I was hungry.  I started out taking a drink every other lap.  About once per hour I ate something like a PBJ.  I brought a small supply of gel packets, but I never needed them.  I did fine eating the food at the aid station.  I also brought a small supply of electrolyte pills.  I started out taking one every two hours.  I wasn’t sweating excessively, but the air was dry, so I didn’t want to underestimate how much salt I was losing in my sweat.

I knew my early pace was too fast to be sustainable, but doing a consistent five laps per hour made it easy to keep track of my laps.  After three hours, I started taking longer walking breaks.  It was noon, and the sun was high in the sky.  I knew the next few hours would be the warmest of the day, so it made sense to do more walking.  I no longer needed to worry about getting cold.

I no longer worried about my lap times.  I just picked a spot about a third of the way around the loop, and I walked to the same spot every lap.  Then I ran the rest of the way.

The course began with roads around the outer edge of the east side of Camelback Ranch.  Then we followed a dirt path that cut through the middle of the facility and came out right by the aid station.  Most of the course was dirt.  A short segment of the road was paved, and there was one spot where the path crossed a concrete terrace.

Every four hours, we switched directions.  Now, instead of beginning with the road, we began with the path.  At this point, I needed to pick a different place to end my walking breaks.  I walked the entire path and ran the road.  That gave me a longer walking break than I had before.  By now, I needed it.

Since breaking my rib, I’ve done several training runs on a treadmill.  If I keep the pace slow enough, I have only minimum discomfort in my right side.  One day, I ran a bit too fast.  I didn’t hurt while I was running, but it hurt after I finished.  None of those runs were more than 12 miles.  In the early hours of the race, I had only minimal discomfort from the rib.  I was aware of it, but it wasn’t a big deal.  I didn’t know how it would feel after several hours.

By the time we switched directions, I was already noticing an increase in my discomfort.  Lengthening my walking breaks made a big difference.  I went back to having only minimal discomfort.

By now, drinking every other lap was no longer enough.  I felt thirsty, so I started drinking every lap.  By the time I finished a lap, I would be thirsty again.  The temperature was now in the 70s with sunny skies.  I underestimated how hot the direct sunlight would feel.  The dry desert air also made it easy to get dehydrated.

Once you begin to feel uncomfortable, you need to break up the race by setting intermediate goals.  My first intermediate goal was 25 laps.  That was roughly equal to a marathon.  It took me five hours and fifteen minutes to get there.  The next intermediate goal was 50K.

After about five and a half hours, I started to notice some puffiness in my fingers.  That can be a sign of hyponatremia.  So far, I had only taken two of my electrolyte pills. I started taking them once per hour.

The aid station always had cookies, pretzels, PJBs, and bean roll-ups, but sometimes they had other foods.  At designated times, they would have hot entrees, so the multi-day runners could get regular meals.  One time I came by and a volunteer was holding a tray of Nutter Butter cookies with Nutella.  Later, when it was hot, they had strawberry banana smoothies.

By the time I reached 50K, I was already thinking about the next goal.  My longest run so far this year was 39.05 miles in an eight hour race.  I needed eight more laps to get there.  By now, every lap was a struggle.  I chipped away at it, one lap at a time, but it seemed to take forever to do those eight laps.

After eight hours, we switched directions again.  I had to choose a new place to end my walking breaks again.  The road had two sharp turns, and then we turned onto the path.  I started walking to the second sharp turn.  At this point, I was walking roughly half of each lap.

By now, I had developed some painful blisters.  The afternoon sun baked the course, making it dry and dusty.  My gaiters kept dust from getting into my shoes around the ankles, but I suspect dust was getting through the uppers in the front of my shoes.  Once dust gets into your shoes, it can work its way around the shoe and cause extra friction.  At one point, I commented to my friend Karen that the blisters hurt enough to distract me from the discomfort in my ribs.

Earlier, my walking breaks were rest breaks.  Now they were painful.  The blisters made walking more painful than running.

After another half hour, I finally finished 38 laps, making this my longest run of the year for both time and distance.  I was determined to get to 50 miles, but I needed 10 more laps.  At this point, 10 laps was a lot.  In the morning, I had thoughts of running 50 miles and then walking the rest of the night.  From 50K on, I realized I would probably be done at 50 miles.

I saw a lot of familiar faces at this race.  I knew several of the runners who were doing the six day race.  Many of them come here every year.  I also saw a few runners who I’ve seen at the FANS 24-hour race in Minneapolis.  I was wearing a Comrades Marathon shirt, and I met two other Comrades runners.  One did the “down” course the same year I did.  The other will be doing his first Comrades next year.  I also saw a few “Mainlyners” who I’ve at various Mainly Marathon series.

With 10 laps to go, I was tempted to walk the rest of the way, but I really wanted to keep running if I could.  At first it was a struggle, but it got easier.  Having decided to stop after 48 laps (50 miles), I could count down the remaining laps.  When the countdown gets into single digits, it seemed well within reach.

When I saw the sun going down, I stopped by my tent to drop off my sunglasses.  It wasn’t dark yet, but it would be soon.  At night, the course is illuminated by a series of lamps.  Some parts of the course are brightly lit.  Others are shadowy.  There’s enough light overall that you can get by without a flashlight.

With about eight laps to go, I had to clear my throat a couple of times.  I suspect I needed to cough up some phlegm, but I was suppressing the urge to cough.  Clearing my throat while running was somewhat painful.  That inflamed my ribs.  Now the blisters were no longer the thing I noticed most.  While I was running, I only noticed the discomfort on my right side.  While I was walking, I still noticed my side, but I also noticed the blisters.

I had to clear my throat every lap or two, which kept making the discomfort worse.  I realized this wasn’t going to go away.  I probably needed to cough deeply before it would get better.  I couldn’t do that while running.  Realistically, I needed to sit down in a chair, press a pillow against my side, brace for the pain and force myself to cough deeply.  That wouldn’t happen until I was back at the hotel.  Even if I could do it now, it would be too painful to continue running.  My race would be over.

Despite the discomfort, it was getting easier to finish each lap.  At first I thought that was psychological, since I had fewer and fewer laps remaining to get to 50 miles.  I eventually realized it was because it felt cooler now.  The hot sun earlier was really wearing me down.  Now it was a few degrees cooler and the sun had set.  If not for the discomfort in my side, I would have tried to persuade myself to keep running beyond 50 miles.

With about seven laps to go, I realized I could probably walk the remaining laps and still get to 50 miles within 12 hours.  Running the second half of each lap allowed me to finish each lap four or five minutes faster.  I was no longer tempted to walk the rest of the way, even though I had time.  Walking the whole way would have been too painful.  Walking bothered my blisters more, but running would have been too tiring.  Walking half and running half was easier than doing just one or the other.

When I finished my 48th lap, I stopped my watch.  That lap gave me 50.39 miles.  For what it’s worth, I finished that distance in 11:28:05.  Officially, my time will be 24 hours.

In theory, I was on pace to run 100 miles in 24 hours.  In reality, that was virtually impossible.  For the last few hours I was already going slower than the pace I would have needed in the second half.

I initially found that discouraging.  This was a long training run for Rocky Raccoon.  I ran 50 miles, which a nice stepping stone toward 100 miles, but I really struggled just to get to 50.  My slow pace in those last few hours really distorted my perception of how I did.  Finishing 50 miles in 11:28 is nothing impressive, but it’s respectable.  I’m not in shape to do 100 miles in 24 hours, but the time limit at Rocky Raccoon is 30 hours.  I should be able to do that.

As I was packing up to leave Camelback Ranch, it didn’t take much for me to get slightly short of breath.  That’s when I realized how much the heat and sun had affected me in the afternoon.  I felt like I had a very mild case of heat stress.  Bearing that in mind, I’m not as discouraged by my slow pace in the afternoon hours.

When I got back to the hotel, I finally took off my shoes and socks.  They didn’t look as bad as I thought they would.  My socks had some dirty patches, only in the toes and heel.  My feet looked worse.  Both heels had thick blisters.  On my left foot, I had layers of blisters, making it difficult to drain them.

Today, my side feels better.  There’s a little discomfort, but no more than any other day.  The race didn’t appear to have any long-term affect.  My blisters are another matter.  They may take longer to heal than the rib.

I Had a Follow-up with My Doctor

After my two falls during the first race of the Four Corners Quad, I went to a hospital in Cortez, where they diagnosed a fractured rib.  Here’s one of the X-ray images.

Yesterday, I had a follow-up appointment with my doctor in Minnesota.  After a brief exam, he was able to confirm that I don’t have any complications.

The doctor in Cortez said I should take three weeks off from running.   The doctor I see at home has a background in sports medicine, so I wanted to get his opinion.  He said I can run as soon as it doesn’t hurt too much.  In other words, my pain threshold should be my guide.  I also asked about weight training.  He said I should wait at least two more weeks before doing any exercises that involve lifting weight above me.  Before attempting a bench press, I should see how I feel doing push-ups.

Since early in the year, when I started physical therapy, I’ve been doing about a dozen exercises to strengthen my hips, glutes, adductors and core muscles.  I was able to do a couple of those exercises today, but I’ll have to phase the rest in gradually.  In the case of planks, my doctor said I could start with a few seconds this weekend and then gradually increase the time.  I used to do four minutes.

As far as nutrition goes, I’ve been emphasizing dairy products and leafy green vegetables.  This kale and walnut salad is a typical meal.

Other than getting protein, the only other nutritional advice my doctor had was to cut back on carbs, since I’m not burning as many calories at my current activity level.  While I was out of town, I was eating restaurant meals, and I could tell I was gaining weight.  I started to feel a bit bloated.  Now that I’m home, I’ll try to be more restrained until I’m able to train again.

My last question was whether I could still do the Across the Years 24-hour run at the end of the month.  That was never going to be an “A” race, but was something I viewed as a long training run to help me build up to 100 mile trail runs in 2017.  He said it’s OK to do that race, but I’ll probably need to adjust my goals.  He also suggested I avoid falling.  That shouldn’t be a problem.  ATY has a flat course with no trip hazards.

It’s been six days since the injury.  Since then, I’ve been resting, but I may try an easy run on the treadmill as soon as tomorrow.  Breathing normally is comfortable now.  There’s just a little discomfort when I take deep breaths.  Coughing doesn’t hurt too much, but sneezing is still extremely painful.  I’m using my right arm for more of my daily activities.  The one that hurts the most is reaching for the remote control when I need to open or close our garage door.  I clip the remote to the visor on the passenger side, so it’s a long enough reach to be somewhat painful.  I could move it closer, but my doctor wants me to challenge myself to use my right arm for daily activities, to the extent that I can.